Last Night

Everyone conspired to not let me sleep.

Craig and I were supposed to go to bed really early, but then Craig needed to go out and help a friend of ours. So that didn't happen. And since poor Craig has a miserable cold that was especially sad for him.

Once we were finally in bed, Craig went right to sleep. I stayed up a few minutes to read, which is what I always do. Before I could turn out the light, Kendra began her moaning-- something she started doing while she was sick over the holidays and has never completely quit. I had to get up twice and hand her the sippy cup that was in her bed with her. I'm not sure how to break her of this annoying habit. Then my mom called. Since Craig was already asleep and I was in bed, I didn't answer. But then I felt all guilty for ignoring a call.

I finally turned out the light. Ryder was up around midnight. Around two Bentley began kicking his door as loudly as he could because he was out of water. Nothing like the adrenaline rush of thinking your house is being kicked down to wake you up. (The really annoying thing about that was that his door was unlocked-- he could have just come into our room and asked for water!) And then of course, Craig's alarm clocks were going off from around 5:30 until 6:30 when he left for work. And Kendra woke me up at 7:00 with the one announcement no parent can ignore: "I hafta go potty."

What a night.

I spent a decent chunk of the morning feeling sorry for myself; I really don't do well without a good night's rest. The pity party continued until I began explaining to my sister on the phone why Craig had gone out last night: the problems my friend is dealing with-- which I feel should be kept confidential, so I'm not going to put details on my blog-- are so much bigger than anything I've faced in my entire life. The kind of problems where all you can really do is be a shoulder to cry on and reassure her that this isn't God punishing her.

And just like that my eyes refocused and I could see my frustrating lack of sleep for what it really was: a minor annoyance in a life that is otherwise very blessed and happy indeed.

Maybe tonight I'll get to sleep. But if not? It won't be the end of the world.